If only this were a fairy tale
by Mish-lissa
Summary: Merlin is a long term care nurse  he deals with coma patients , and although he cares for all his patients he has one favorite, whom he is pretty sure is a complete prat, what happens when the prat wakes up...
1. Chapter 1

Notes: Hi :) This happens to be my first time posting here, or really using at all, so reviews would be awesome, also feel free to tell me if I mess up in some way so that I can fix it.

Comments are love :)

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"Mr. Pendragon threw Val's entire portfolio in the trash when Val proposed his stupid Ad idea for the Cystopurin account." Will said, as he sipped his coffee.

Merlin just laughed, working mercilessly on his own ad, even though it wasn't anywhere near as high profile as the ones Valiant worked on.

"It was kind of brilliant though, in its own way, you have to admit, I mean how could twenty naked women in a shower not be brilliant?" Will said.

"When it's for medicine for bladder infections." Merlin answered snarkly, still laughing.

"You think you could do any better?" Merlin's head snaps up to see a young gorgeous blond man in an expensive suit, probably one of the main designers who think they're better than everyone else, standing over his desk.

"Well I wouldn't rub youth and beauty in the faces of older people who are probably sensitive about their conditions and to proud to ask for help, instead of trying to bring myself to their level and connect with them."

Will had been doing the 'cut it out' sign from behind the man, looking pale, and trying to get Merlin to shut up, but Merlin had no idea what his problem was and ignored him.

"And you think you have the ability to do that?" The man asked, sarcastically.

"Better than Valiant could anyways." Merlin answered without hesitation, only to have the man raise his eyebrow at him

"Okay than, be ready to present at 6p.m tomorrow." The man said as he strutted away.

"Wait, what?" Merlin asked, but the man was already gone.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Will asked sharply.

"He was being a prat." Merlin said with a shrug.

"You have no idea who that was, do you?" Will asked disbelievingly as Merlin shook his head with another shrug, "That was Arthur Pendragon, and now you're screwed."

"That was Arthur Pendragon, I thought he'd be older or something." Merlin did a double take, even though he knew that the man was long gone, "I'm gonna get fired…" He said once he finally stopped gaping.

"You better get to work…" Will said, Merlin just stared at him blankly, "You've got a presentation to prepare by tomorrow if you want any chance at keeping your job."

"What? I can't do that… It's a major account." Merlin answered.

"Come on, you're more talented than any of those pricks, I know you can do it, besides if you get fired who will I hang out with?" Will asked with a smile.

Merlin looked at him like he was crazy, but still took all of his work home with him, it didn't hurt to try, he told himself. Merlin worked all through the night, on an ad that technically wasn't his job, and by 4 pm he had just finished, only getting two hours sleep since Arthur had stood by his desk.

After a quick nap, and smoothing out his hair, Merlin nervously walked over to the main conference room, nervous that Arthur had just been winding him up and that no one would be there, and even more nervous that they would be.

He walked into a room full of beautiful people in expensive suits, all looking like the would rather shoot themselves in the foot, and get the blood on their custom tailored suits, than listen to him talk.

Arthur, at the head of the table, looked ready to see Merlin make a fool of himself, yet his eyes dared Merlin to prove him wrong.

Merlin did his best to ignore their judgments as he gave his presentation, his hands shaking and nearly dropping the pictures he had printed out.

Yet somehow he survived, without making too much of a full of himself, the people actually considering using his ad.

Merlin waited outside the room while they discussed, suddenly the door opened, Arthur walking towards him with a huge smile on his face, Merlin couldn't beli….

Merlin was jerked awake by his alarm clock, blaring at him and showing that he had once again slept through the first alarm.

Merlin jumped up and quickly pulled on some clothes, he hated having to waste his morning getting dressed when he was just going to change into scrubs at the hospital, and grabbed a quick breakfast on his way out the door.

As Merlin went through his morning routine at work, he scoffed at his dream, just the idea of him being a graphic designer was enough to make anyone laugh. It wasn't that he wasn't creative, he had an imagination to rival Walt Disney's, but technology, computers in particular, tended to hate him. Although, some parts of the dream were based on reality; Will was Merlin's co-worker and friend, Pendragon Advertising was the best around, and, unfortunately, Merlin really did have to deal with bladder infections and the medicine involved, though he greatly doubted that Cystopurin would be a main account for a company as big as Pendragon.

As a long term care nurse, or as his friend Gwaine called it, a diaper changer for vegetables, bladder infections and the like were part of Merlin's job. Despite the crap his friends gave him, Merlin was proud of his job, he took care of people who couldn't take care of themselves, and although his patients themselves may not have noticed, Merlin liked to think he at least helped their families. And for those without families, he gave them somebody who cared, who, despite the fact that they were in comas, would notice if they weren't there.

And Merlin did care about his patients, each was an individual to him despite their comatose state, and he treated them at such. For example; he brought the young Freya flowers every week, lighting candles and playing soft music that he would never dare to play for Cenred, who seemed to like his room dark and enjoy a firmer bed and softer sheets.

Of course his patients never gave any response, but Merlin just seemed to have a feel for these things, just like he knew to bring the newspaper everyday to read the business section to his last patient of the day, because he would want to hear how his father's company is doing.

Merlin sighed as he entered Arthur's red and gold room, looking down at the man who had been so lively and handsome in his dream last night, laying pale and sickly, where he'd been for the last two years.


	2. Chapter 2

Notes: Hi :) This happens to be my first time posting here, or really using at all, so reviews would be awesome, also feel free to tell me if I mess up in some way so that I can fix it.

Comments are love :

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"and of course Gwaine was no help, stumbled in completely sloshed, collapsed onto the couch… defintiley not the best wake-up call my mother's ever gotten, the worst part is that he didn't even notice her, just passed out right on top of my mom!" Merlin retold as he checked Arthur's vitals, "But on the bright side it did distract her from her problems for a little bit."

Merlin walked around the room, tidying up as he finished his story. He had had the room painted red and gold almost immediately after starting this job, Merlin had worked at the JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Center for two years, and had been Arthur's nurse for that entire time. The Center had plenty of money, much of it probably from Arthur's father alone, so they had no lackage of nurses allowing Merlin to have only a few patients at a time so that he could spend a good amount of time with each. Most nurses actually liked to have more patients, so that they would be able to keep busy rather than just sitting in a room with the same patients every day, but Merlin liked to take his time, talking and reading to his patients. When he first started working other nurses complained that he was slacking off, but then he was assigned to Mr. Rodriguez, whom had been in a vegetative state for years with his eyes occasionally opening, but other why's unresponsive, after a couple months of taking care of him and visiting him he started responding more and more. Of course he would never fully recover, and would spend the rest of his life in a bed, but with Merlin's help he began to communicate with one of the smart computers they had. People started noticing that Merlin's patients just did better, even though it usually wasn't that extreme, often just better vitals and obvious healthier appearance, plus Merlin would offer to cover anyone's shifts if they wanted, so people stopped complaining. Soon he was able to do almost anything he wanted, including painting Arthur's room red and gold, because even the strangest request seemed to help the patient, the only exception was if the patients family complained but seeing as Arthur's father hadn't visited in all of Merlin's time there, that wasn't a problem. There had even been a few time's a patient's family would come in and, for example, see that the room was blue, only to admit that that was the patients favorite color, or see that Merlin had put up pictures of giraffes and other safari animals, and ask how he knew that the patient always wanted to go to Africa.

It wasn't as though he really knew these things, he would just get a sense for his patient, and then see a picture or color or something, and be reminded of them, many of his co-workers said he had a gift, while others just said he was weird. But it didn't matter, Merlin just liked feeling that he made a bit of a difference in his patients lives.

As for Arthur, at first Merlin hadn't really liked him. He felt awful about it, who doesn't like their coma patient? Especially when it's a young cute one that doesn't even have a lot of gross infections or anything? But Merlin just kind of sensed an air of arrogance about Arthur, he doesn't know how someone in a coma can be demanding but somehow Arthur was; like Merlin would give Arthur a sponge bath only to get the feeling that the water should be warmer, or he'd be doing Arthur's rehab only to feel insulted somehow, like Arthur didn't like the way he did it. It drove Merlin crazy, and he even considered asking to switch patients, but then one day a child who was in a wheel chair recovering from a car crash had been roaming the hospital, apparently hiding from rehab which hurt a lot, and somehow wandered into Arthur's room. Merlin had been the one to find him, and when he convinced the kid to go back to rehab (so that next year he could be back on the playground and show his best friend who really was the king of the jungle gym), Merlin had gotten a strange protective feeling, only to realize that it came from Arthur. As time went on Merlin began to feel that beneath Arthur's self-centered exterior, was actually a very caring and self-less man. Merlin only wished that he could actually meet the man Arthur once was, to know for sure if he was right.

Suddenly Merlin's gaze was drawn to Arthur, was that movement? He could of sworn Arthur's eyes opened for a second. Merlin looked intently at him, but nothing happened, Merlin sighed, he wanted Arthur to wake up so bad that he was imagining things. Merlin went home that night subdued and disappointed, wishing for things he knew he'd never have.


	3. Chapter 3a

Notes: Hi :) This happens to be my first time posting here, or really using at all, so reviews would be awesome, also feel free to tell me if I mess up in some way so that I can fix it.

Comments are love :

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Arthur was having a stressful day, no make that a stressful month, growing up he had always had a intense respect for his father, sure the man was harsh sometimes, but he always had a good reason. However, as Arthur got older he started to question his father more and more, and to make it worse it wasn't as if he could just confront his father with his doubts, being the proud man he was Uther took all criticism as disrespect, so Arthur had to try to voice his opinions in the most political way possible or keep his mouth shut. More and more Arthur was failing to see his father's logic, why he shot down some companies while working for some that Arthur considered somewhat shady. In Arthur's opinion it was the job of an advertising agency to get as many people as possible interested in a product, and the best way to do that was to bring out knew brands, with new interesting products that changed and adapted with the times, and although that required taking a chance on new companies Arthur figured that the pay out would be worth it, yet his father insisted on only taking accounts from already established huge companies, with old money, who let's-face-it really don't need any more help getting their name out there. But how was he, Arthur, supposed to argue with the man who had created this company from nothing , how could he tell Uther, who had held the company together when the economy was so awful that everyone said an Ad agency wouldn't last, that he was wrong and that Arthur knew better than him.

So Arthur kept his mouth shut, but each day added to his stress, he tried to help out the small companies when he could, but there was little he could do. And to top it all off he kept feeling like he was forgetting something, like there was something really important that he just couldn't remember, or someone.

"Sir, ii brou… brought you your… co…coffee." His assistant, he thinks her name is Emily, stuttered. He may seem like a prick for not knowing her name, but truth be told she's only worked for him for about two weeks, and he was planning on firing her soon if she didn't quite, none of his assistants lasted long, and he couldn't very well keep her on if she took two years just to tell him about his coffee, now could he?

"Arthur?" His father demanded.

"Yes father?" Arthur asked, looking around, when had he gotten into his father's office? And where had Emily gone?  
"I was saying that you need to find a new account manager and get production up 20%, we don't want our competition to think we're slipping." Uther repeated.

"Account mana…? What happened to the account manager we had?" Arthur asked, confused.

Uther sighed, "Have you not been paying attention, we let him go last week, in fact you were the one to fire him." Uther looked disappointed than sighed again, "I don't have time for this, come back and see me when you're interested in this company again."

"What? I am interes…"

"Arthur!" He heard his father shout, and shot up, why had he been leaning his head on the table? And how had he gotten into the conference room.

"Please excuse my son," Uther said to the men suddenly sitting around the table, "he's feeling extremely ill but insisted on coming into work anyways," Uther said, all the while shooting Arthur disappointed looks for actually falling asleep during a meeting.

"I apologize, but am feel much better now, please continue," Arthur said, maybe he really was getting sick, it had been years since he had a checkup anyways so he might as well schedule one after work. He tried to pay attention, pushing any health concerns to the back of his mind, but the meeting was so boring that he wished he actually could fall asleep.

Uther finally directed a question at Arthur, something about their budget for a certain account, but Arthur's attention was suddenly directed elsewhere. Through the glass walls of the conference room Arthur saw a fleeting figure, just a flash really, but somehow he knew it was important, that they were important.

Before he could even think about it Arthur was on his feet, hurrying after the figure, he couldn't even hear his father yelling at him, nothing existed but the figure. He chased it throughout the building, but every time he would round a corner just in time to see it disappear behind the next one. The timing was too perfect and part of Arthur's mind wondered if this was part of the sickness, but that was ridiculous, Pendragon's didn't hallucinate.

"Stop!" Arthur cried out, "I order you to stop! Do you know who I am? I could have you fired!" Arthur ran and ran, only to see the blur combust, evaporating into smoke. Arthur could have sworn he heard the word 'prat' resonating in the air as the dark smoke filled the room.

He couldn't breathe, his throat felt as though someone had poured acid down it, and he wondered is inhalation usually affected people this quickly, then again it seemed like a strange detail to have a problem with when a phantom just combusted in front of him. Also on that list was the fact tahat he couldn't smell the smoke.

The pain was so overwhelming, yet somehow felt old, and he tried to grab at his throat, only to realize that he couldn't move his arms.

Somehow he had ended up on the ground, his limbs lying uselessly around him, his eyes closed. Arthur tried to scream, to fight against the paralysis and pain with all his might, but his body wouldn't respond and he could do nothing but lie on the floor waiting for death.

Merlin was astonished by the sight before him, he could feel Arthur's pain and fear, see his body twitching as he tried to grab for the tracheal tube down his throat, but his weakend arms couldn't obey him. Merlin couldn't believe it, Arthur was waking up, if he didn't kill himself in the process.

As Arthur's world faded into blackness his fear for himself and for everyone else in the building where only calmed by one thing, the phantom's voice whispering in his year, stuttering and bumbling, but telling him that everything would be alright.


	4. Chapter 3b

Notes: Hi :) This happens to be my first time posting here, or really using at all, so reviews would be awesome, also feel free to tell me if I mess up in some way so that I can fix it.

Comments are love :

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Weeks turned into months and Arthur's condition didn't change. He was breathing on his own now, as his body had fought back against the tube, and everyone told Merlin to be grateful and proud, but that that was as good as it would get.

Merlin tried to explain to them that Arthur had responded to stimuli, to the pain of the tube down his throat, and that he even moved, or at least tried to move, and then responded to Merlin's attempts to calm him, but Merlin was told over and over again that it was an involuntary seizure and that Arthur didn't have the mental compactly to know that Merlin was there, let alone respond to him.

Merlin began getting looks of pity and disbelief from his coworkers, he felt like a child who just told them about the scary monster in his closet, instead of a respected nurse.

Then finally, Arthur's eyes flickered open, just for a second but it was enough, enough for Merlin to know that he wasn't crazy and that Arthur really was waking up, albeit slowly. But apparently it wasn't enough for everyone else.

Merlin was alone when Arthur moved, and every time Merlin tried to show someone else Arthur would lie still. They told Merlin that he was seeing only what he wanted to see, that maybe he was too attached to this patient, and that maybe he should take some time off.

Merlin refused and continued working at his job, with only Will's support, but slowly his patients began disappearing from him, the families asking to have another nurse appointed, no doubt warned about him by those who thought he was losing it.

Then one day he entered Arthur's room, surprised to see someone standing there, a dignified-looking older man stood over Arthur's bed, looking down at his son.

"Mr. Pendragon," Merlin breathed in surprise and relief, he knew what Uther Pendragon looked like from news articles and tv, and although his presents was intimidating, Merlin was relieved to see him. He had tried to contact Uther as soon as Arthur had had his 'episode' and although he was assured that his messages were passed on, Merlin wanted to talk to Uther in person about putting his son in a kind of therapy to help him emerge from his coma, and now that he was here Arthur would finally get the help he needed.

Uther turned around, looking down at the scrawny man in front of him, "Mr. Emrys, I was told you wished to speak to me."

"Ye…Yes Sir… Uhm, as I'm sure you know Arthur had an 'episode' awhile back, in which his body fought back against the tracheal tube, and now he is trying to wake up, if only you…"

"Mr. Emrys, I'm sure you have good intentions, but my son was stolen from me three years ago by meningitis, one day he was alive and well, save for a slight flu, and the next he was gone. I assure you, your delusions, attempts to bend the facts into something that fits your fantasies, our only causing pain; to Arthur, me, and yourself. I have accepted my son's death, and morned him, and you come along thinking you can trudge up the pain and misery losing him cost me, for what; money? The fame of saving Arthur Pendragon? Will I assure you, you will get none of that. I have already talked to your superiors and am moving Arthur to a facality closer to home, I have also recommended to them that they not let you continue to work here and poison others with your delusions, but that is up to him." And just like that, Uther walked out of the room leaving Merlin gaping.

So that was Arthur's father, no wonder Arthur was a bit of a prat, Merlin looked down at the prat in question. "Wake up you idiot, you can't just go ruining my life and then just lay there, looking innocent. You don't even have to wake up all the way, just move, open your eyes, do something!" Merlin yelled, now leaning over Arthur, barely stopping his sobs as Arthur lay there motionless, he's never even talked to the man, or at least never gotten a response, so why does the idea of him leaving hurt so bad?


	5. Chapter 4

Notes: Hi :) This happens to be my first time posting here, or really using at all, so reviews would be awesome, also feel free to tell me if I mess up in some way so that I can fix it.

Comments are love :

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"Freya! Come on missy, we need to hurry." Merlin called out as he struggled to get his shoes on, while grabbing his coffee, and putting Freya's lunch into her lunch bag, only to round the corner and see her standing by the door, dressed and ready with her back pack on and an impatient look on her sweet face.

"Come on Uncle Merlin, we're going to be late for school." Freya grabbed his hand, pulling him out the door.

Merlin sighed, smiling, what does it say about you when you get lectured by a six year old?

He dropped Freya off at her school, giving her a hug and kiss, before driving to work. After leaving his job at the JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Center Merlin had gone to stay with Gwen, a friend from college. He had been a mess when he turned up on her door two years ago, having lost his job, most of his friends, and any chance he may have had at helping Arthur, but she let him in without question. He tried to leave a million times, Gwen had enough to worry about; juggling being a wife, mother, and pediatric nurse, that she didn't need to add Merlin to that list, but she of course told him he was being silly and did one of her cute little rambles until he agreed to stay. Lance was also very accommodating, even trying to help Merlin find a job, but after having his dream career Merlin couldn't settle for just any job, and as a firefighter Lance had understood and respected that.

Without Merlin even knowing Gwen had pulled some strings at the hospital she worked at, and not only got him an interview but also got them to over look the black mark that Uther Pendragon had put on his name, that had been what prevented Merlin from getting jobs in the first place.

So now he was working in the Long Term Care wing of Ealdor Hospital, and while working in the smallest wing of an already small hospital wasn't as glamorous as working in a facility that specialized in head trauma, Merlin was forever grateful to Gwen for putting her reputation on the line to get him this job, so when Gwen and Lance had wanted to go on a cruise for the anniversary, Merlin hadn't hesitated to offer to watch their daughter Freya.

And although Merlin didn't regret that; he owed Gwen and Lance more than he could ever repay them and Freya was a great girl, he couldn't wait for them to get home tonight. It was amazing that he was a good nurse because in reality he struggled to take care of himself, let alone a six year old, and although Freya survived Merlin giving her ice cream for dinner and cake for breakfast, and actually messing up her room, Merlin himself was worn out from chasing around a sugar-hyped up little girl, even if in general she was more responsible than him.

So after work he picked up some take out, not wanting to subject anyone to his cooking, and Freya and he made a welcome home sign for Freya's parents, Freya insisting that Merlin would look so much better covered in pink sparkles, and Merlin was just about to sit down and relax when the phone rang.

"Hello?" Merlin answered quickly, afraid Gwen and Lance might be calling to tell him something's wrong.

"Hello, May I talk to Merlin Emrys?" A woman asked from the other line, "This is Morgana Pendragon."

Merlin nearly dropped the phone, shocked, he knew who Morgana was, she was Arthur's step-sister and owner of a modeling agency, what he didn't know is why she would be calling him, almost two years after Uther took Arthur away.

"Are you okay?" A little voice asked, pulling Merlin out of his thoughts, he looked over to see Freya looking concerned and quickly pulled her onto his lap as he took a deep breath.

"This is me… I mean him…. I mean… I'm Merlin." Merlin finally answered.

"Merlin, I'm sorry to call so late. It was quite difficult to track you down, and I thought it best not to wait any longer, is this a bad time?" Morgana asked.

"Uhm no… Now's fine." He answered his voice quivering slightly, "Is Arthur okay?" He didn't know why Morgana would track him down to tell him if something happened to Arthur, but he was grateful if she did, despite his fear he wanted to know.

"Well that's what I called to talk about, you may find this shocking, well you less than others, but Arthur's awake. He has been for a little over a year."

Merlin sighed a huge sigh of relief, he knew Arthur had it in him, Merlin couldn't help the grin on his face, but it quickly vanished as he considered why Morgana called him. "Is he alright?" He asked again, he knew how traumatic coming out of a coma could be, and that just because she said Arthur was awake didn't mean he didn't have brain damage.

He was answered by a sigh, and held the phone closer as the front door opened and Freya ran to her parents, "The doctors say it looks promising, but it's Arthur that's the problem, well him and Uther, they're both so stubborn." Morgana sighed again, and Merlin heard Gwen walk into the room and ask him what's going on. "Arthur, well he doesn't know how to deal with being completely dependent on people, especially his father, and Uther, well he never listened to Arthur anyways, so he's sure as hell not going to now," Morgana finished, sounding more than a little exasperated.

"Uhm okay…?" Merlin said, unsure what this had to do with him.

"I want you to come work for us," Morgana stated simply, as though she had heard Merlin's thoughts. "If you came, Arthur could move into one of the other houses, still on the same land, but away from Uther, so that he could have some semblance of freedom while still being looked after. And Uther could quit trying to coddle him, because he's really quite awful at it and the best he can manage is patronizing and arguing. And of course I'd be able to sleep better without all the anger and shouting." Morgana reasoned, sounding like she really cared about Arthur, but tried to hide it.

"But why me? There are plenty of nurses out there, and it's not as though Arthur knows me, plus his father sort of hates me and did his best to sully my name in the medical field, so I sort of doubt that he's on board with this," Merlin questioned.

Again Morgana sighed, "To be honest, because nobody else can put up with him. Arthur's, well he can be kind of…"

"An arrogant prat?" Merlin filled in.

"Exactly," she said, and he could hear her smirking, "I figured if you managed him once, maybe you could do it now. And let me deal with Uther, he can't exactly have a problem with you as a nurse since technically you were right, now there's just the issue of him hating you because you made him look like a fool."

"I didn't…" Merlin started to defend, but was cut off.

"No matter, I can get Uther to agree. Just think about it and call me back in a couple of days... Oh and you'd be paid handsomely." She said, and with that the line went dead.

Merlin slowly looked up to see Gwen and Lance sitting at the end of the couch starring at him, concerned, at some point they must have tucked Freya in.

"Merlin… What's going on? Gwen finally asked.

Merlin explained, telling them everything Morgana said. "…and she just drops all of that on me, out of no where, then just hangs up! Like I'm just gonna drop everything in my life and come running, because some rich stranger says so. It's not like I owe her, or even Arthur, anything, I did my job well, and got fired for it. Besides it's not like Arthur would even want me there, he doesn't even know me… and I have a job anyways, and a home… and you guys!"

"So you're just going to turn her down then?" Lance asked, after sharing a glance with Gwen.

"Of course." Merlin said, suddenly sounding less sure.

"Uhm, so, what's going to happen with Arthur?" Gwen asked.

"I don't know… they'll find another nurse, no matter what Morgana said there has to be somebody else," Merlin said stubbornly.

"Right then." Lance answered.

"But…" Gwen started to argue.

"Honey, if he doesn't want to go, then he shouldn't go," Lance said, giving Gwen a look that Merlin missed.

"Of course, although, Merlin, if you did want to go we'd encourage you, we know how much Arthur meant to you." Gwen said.

Merlin scoffed, "He was just a patient, a annoying one at that, besides it doesn't matter because I'm not going," Merlin said as he made his way to bed.

Less than three weeks later Merlin was packing his bags, little Freya hugging him and making him promise to visit all the time.

"You know, I'm only going because Arthur would probably scare away all the other nurses, besides the pay is good," Merlin said as he hugged Gwen good bye. He had ranted about all the reasons not to take the job throughout the whole day after Morgana called, only to finally break down to days later when Gwen straight-up told him that he was going to take the job anyways, so he might as well get it over with. By the very next day he had given his two week's notice at work and called Morgana back, purposefully ignoring her gloating tone.

"Thank you for everything you've done for me, both of you," Merlin said to Gwen and Lance, after one last hug as he made his way to his car.

"It was no trouble, you're more than welcomed back anytime," Lance answered.

"This will always be your home, so don't hesitate if you ever need a place to stay, which I have a feeling you won't," Gwen said with a smile, though her eyes were filled with tears at saying goodbye. "I love you, visit soon!" She called out as he drove off, and smiled as she heard the answering 'love you too' resonate through the air as the car faded into the distance, she quickly leaned into hug Lance, she was happy that Merlin was finding his own way, but the house wouldn't be the same without him.

Merlin didn't look back as he drove away from people he loved and who always supported him and towards a house full of people who either hated him, looked down upon him, or both.

Okay so maybe he stole a quick glance at the house behind him.


	6. Chapter 5

Notes: Hey guys, I mostly post on livejournal & haven't been updating as regularly here because I don't know if anyone reads it... **So if you like it and want me to update please comment!** Thanks! & thanks for reading, hope you enjoy :)

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Merlin was led into a large mansion by a butler, but before he even got a chance to look around he was greeted by an excited Morgana, "Merlin! How great that you could make it, just leave your stuff by the door, we'll have it taken up to your room."

Merlin couldn't help but glancing around at the marble tiles, or ceilings that seemed to go on forever. As Morgana led him through the halls Merlin felt small and intimidated. He was used to sharing a small two bed-room house with three other people, and now suddenly he found himself in a stone mansion with empty echoing halls.

"You came just in time for dinner, please join us," Morgana said, pulling Merlin out of his thoughts.

Merlin was about to agree, starved from his journey, when he saw who the 'we' was. There, sitting at the head of a very long table, was Uther Pendragon, and he didn't look happy.

"Nnn…no thanks… I uh… need to unpack… Besides I'm not that hungry." Merlin stuttered, ignoring the fact that his stomach picked that moment to growl.

"Nonsense, you have plenty of time to unpack, it's not as though Arthur's going anywhere. Besides you look as though you could use a little meat on your bones. Please, sit," Morgana pleaded innocently, and for a second Merlin wandered if she realised what she was doing. Then he looked up and saw her sly smile, and considered the possibility that Arthur's sister was pure evil.

The food was delicious, but that was the only good thing to be said about dinner. Uther pointedly ignored Merlin, only acknowledging him to make snide comments about servants at the dinner table. Or simply stating that the meals they shared were only for family. To which Morgana replied that as Merlin was going out of his way to help Uther's son, he was practically family already, which had only made the meal more awkward. Uther acted as though Merlin had harmed his son, instead of sacrificing his career to save him. He didn't even acknowledge that Merlin had come to help, after being given every reason not to.

After dinner Merlin took his time unpacking. His room, which Morgana apologised for the size of, was bigger than any room Merlin had ever had. Hell, he once had a room about the size of the bed. The walls were bare and the room had hard wood floors, but Merlin was told he should feel free to alter the room in any way, which seeing as he had always rented houses, was strange enough.

Finally Merlin was led up to Arthur's room, which was enormous with a walk in closet and an attached bathroom that alone was bigger than Merlin's old room. To his relief the man had been sleeping. Okay, so maybe he had waited as long as he possibly could before letting Morgana drag him up the stairs into Arthur's room, but he was tired from his journey and not really looking forward to the inevitable disappointment of Arthur not recognizing him, and knowing it will happen won't make it hurt any less.

However just as he thought he was in the clear, quickly descending the steps, Merlin heard a crash come from Arthur's room. He ran back up as fast as he could, pushing the door open, afraid of what he might find.

"Morgana, how many times do I have to tell you? I don't need your help; don't tuck me in, don't lay my medication out for me, and for God's sake don't hook me up to the bloody machines!" Arthur said, his voice hoarse and week, yet conveying plenty of arrogance and frustration.

"Well I'm not Morgana, and from where I'm standing it looks like you need the help," Merlin said, as he walked towards the lump on the bed that was Arthur, who was lying there looking like he'd like nothing better than to slap Merlin, but is unable to.

"I don't care who you are, and I definitely don't care what you think, get out of my house and take that thing with you," he said, glancing at the heart monitor that Merlin had hooked him up to.

"I'm Merlin, and I can't take it away… how else will I know if you're alive?" Merlin said, ignoring Arthur's protests as he hooked him back up to the machine and picked up the glass of water that Arthur had knocked over. It was plastic, which gave Merlin the feeling that this wasn't the first time that this has happened. "We'll go over your exercises, and current condition, in the morning. For now just stop making things harder on yourself." Merlin said, briskly walking out of the room, ignoring Arthur's shouts of 'idiot!' and 'you can't speak to me like that!'

Merlin gently closed Arthur's door behind him, collapsing against the hallway wall with a sigh his body trembling. He knew Arthur shouldn't affect him like this, but for two years he had given up hope of ever seeing Arthur again, let alone him being conscious. And now Arthur was yelling at him, like the prat that Merlin always knew he'd be, but other than that hadn't really paid Merlin much attention.

Alone in the hall Merlin let himself feel the pain. He had given up his job and life, twice, for a man who doesn't know or like him, and yet he can't find it in himself to regret it. Part of him says that no matter what he gets in return, helping Arthur was worth it. Of course a small part of him hung on to the hope that Arthur would wake up the next morning and remember him, which Merlin knew would only cause him pain tomorrow when that part was proved wrong.

Dejected and lonely Merlin walked back to his empty room, suddenly wishing for the familiar faces of home.

Merlin woke up confused and disoriented, the bed felt different and without even opening his eyes he could tell that he wasn't at home. He ignored the alarm clock even as everything came rushing back to him.

Getting up he missed the warm hectic sounds of mornings back home. He missed Lance waking up early to make Gwen breakfast, only to realize that she's already up and there are pancakes on the table, getting handed a hot cup of tea as he sleepily stumbles into the kitchen, hearing Freya talk excitedly about school, and most of all Merlin just missed the little family that had adopted him.

The building Merlin's room was in was apparently one of the smaller ones on the land, but it was still big enough for Merlin to get lost in. He couldn't even find the kitchen to make himself some tea, this was going to be a long morning.

"Did you bring my breakfast? You're late!" Was Merlin's greeting as he walked into Arthur's room, indeed carrying a breakfast tray.

"I wasn't aware there was a specific time I was supposed to be here," Merlin answered snarkily as he set Arthur's breakfast down on the table next to his bed, and raised a plastic spoon of oatmeal towards his mouth.

"Yea, before I starve." Arthur grabbed the spoon out of Merlin's hand."I can feed myself," he said, even as his hand shook and he lost most of the oatmeal to the bowl.

Arthur, for his part, just pretended that there was nothing wrong. Merlin knew that his hand had to be hurting, and that even such a simple task was a huge struggle. It was a testament to Arthur's determination and pride that he was able to lift the spoon at all, especially since he'd never had proper rehab.

By the end of breakfast Arthur was exhausted, although not so much that he wasn't able to lightly slap Merlin's hand when he tried to grab the extra piece of toast, and he was none too happy when Merlin told him the real work hadn't even started yet.

They went over his condition, but it was difficult for Merlin to get an accurate read on where Arthur was in his recovery because Arthur kept down playing everything, and ignoring even the most obvious of his physical ailments, but luckily Merlin could mostly sense the truth anyways.

Going over the exercises wasn't any easier, with Arthur mocking every one. A man who used to run ten miles every morning and was no stranger to exercise just couldn't see the point in lightly squeezing a rubber when it got down to it he struggled with every exercise.

Merlin felt like any strength Arthur did have was directed towards torturing him. For example, Arthur could barely endure Merlin lifting his leg for stretches, yet he somehow found the strength to kick Merlin in the face. It was then that Merlin decided that Arthur probably would recover quite a bit, if only so he could beat Merlin up. If anyone had the strength and determination to overcome this, it would be Arthur, he had just lacked motivation in the past. Merlin didn't know how he felt about Arthur's dislike for him being the motivation that made Arthur push through, still he was a good nurse and was going to use any advantage he got.


	7. Chapter 6

Notes: Thank you guys so much for your comments and support! Here's chapter 6, hope you like it :)

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Two months, that was how long Merlin had been staying at the Pendragon mansion, and he had still only seen Uther a couple of times. Not that he had a problem with that; he just got the feeling that deep down Arthur was hurt by his father's avoidance. He knew that Arthur thought that now that he was stuck in bed, his father didn't think he was good enough, and Merlin wasn't sure that Arthur was wrong.

Speaking of Arthur; well, he was still a prat. Only now he was a prat who had the ability to throw things at Merlin's head.

"I'm really going to stop helping you through exercise, if all you do with the extra strength is throw stuff at me," Merlin said, dodging a cup.

"I'll stop throwing things at you when you stop saying idiotic things," Arthur retorted.

"Hmph," Merlin pouted, "everything I say is extremely witty and well thought out."

Arthur's reply was cut off as Merlin began the leg exercises, which took all of Arthur's focus

After basically trying to run Merlin off for the first few weeks, and failing, Arthur actually started giving his all to the physical therapy. Sure, he still gave Merlin a fair amount of crap, but just the fact that Merlin had stuck with him seemed to have earned Merlin some respect.

"It's such a nice day out, how about we take a stroll around the yard today?" Merlin asked cheerfully, his voice full of hope.

Arthur shot a glare at the wheelchair sitting unused in the corner, before looking back at Merlin. "Nah, I don't feel like it," he said nonchalantly, as though he went outside all the time.

Merlin sighed; it had been weeks since he had last been able to drag Arthur outside. One of the gardeners had spotted Arthur in his wheelchair, which had apparently caused Arthur to feel self conscious and shut down a bit.

Arthur began to move his arm in circles, in an exercise, only to have it get caught in the cords of the machine, "Agh! Get rid of this blasted machine already!" Arthur shouted.

Merlin tilted his head to the side, in thought, "I'll make you a deal; you go outside four days a week for a month, and I'll unhook you," Merlin said, smirking.

Arthur just glared, before a slow smile broke on his face, "Okay… if you sweeten the pot," he said.

"…What do you want?" Merlin asked, a little worried.

"Not much, just your indentured servitude," Arthur answered.

Merlin scoffed, "I'm already practically your slave."

"And a poor one at that," Arthur mumbled, "I guess I'll have to think of something else then," he said mischievously.

"Fine, just nothing that causes me bodily harm," Merlin stipulated.

"Way to take the fun out of it. You have a deal," Arthur said.

"Well then, let's get you outside."

Despite the deal, Arthur still shot a glare at Merlin, but quickly smirked as he thought of things he could make Merlin do.

"See, this isn't so bad," Merlin said as he sat on a bench in one of the ground's many gardens, sipping tea from a thermos.

Even Arthur had to admit that it was nice to finally get some fresh air, and it really was a beautiful day, not that Arthur would say that out loud.

"No, I will not reschedule! Tell Bayard that he agreed to a meeting on Thursday, so we will meet on Thursday," Merlin and Arthur heard seconds before Uther walked into their view. "I am not some inexperienced child he can shuffle around. Without me he wouldn't have anything, he should show me more resp..." it was obvious the second Uther saw them, as he trailed off for a second, "ect. Tell Bayard I'll see him on Thursday," Uther finished and hung up.

"Arthur, I didn't expect to see you," Uther said formally.

"Hello father, Merlin and I were just going for a walk" Arthur said, rolling his wheels forward as he said 'walk.' Uther just stood there silently, looking like he'd rather swallow glass then have a conversation with his son.

"Is everything okay with Bayard, do you think he's really going through with a merger with Cedric?" Arthur asked after the awkward pause.

"You needn't worry about it, just focus on getting better," Uther said, "Now I really must be going." Uther rushed off before Arthur could say another word.

"Ahhh!" Arthur yelled throwing his thermos at a tree, right where his father had been standing seconds ago.

"I'm ready to go back in" Arthur said in a closed-off voice starring at the dented thermos lying on the ground. "Come on, let's go" he said again when Merlin didn't respond.

After a couple of seconds Arthur looked over, only to see Merlin sitting on the bench sipping tea, ignoring him.

"Merlin, I order you to take me inside!" Arthur commanded. Merlin just snickered.

"Fine. I'll do it myself," Arthur said, pushing himself forward, tired out by the simple motion. He wondered how he'd ever make it to the house, but it didn't matter because he was soon stopped by an obstacle; Merlin had stuck his foot in the way.

Arthur crossed his arms stubbornly, glaring at Merlin. "What do you want?" he finally asked.

"Just sit," Merlin answered calmly, before going completely silent.

"He's wrong, you know," Merlin said after a couple of minutes had passed.

"Who?" Arthur asked warily.

"Your father."

"He's never wrong, just ask him" Arthur said, his frustration showing through.

"He's wrong about you Arthur" Merlin said softly.

"Oh yea, what about me?" Arthur asked.

"You can do it Arthur, you can still live a successful life, run a huge company if that's what you want. You can beat this, rise above it and all that." Merlin answered sincerely.

Arthur laughed bitterly. "What makes you so sure?"

"Arthur you're... well, you're a prat, an extremely arrogant prat," Merlin started.

"Thanks so much," Arthur said sarcastically.

"You're also the most determined and passionate person I know," Merlin continued.

"Well that's not surprising; you don't know many people, Merlin."

"Look if anybody can come back from something like this, stronger than ever, it's you. You already woke up from a coma that everyone said was impossible to come out of!" Merlin said.

"But that's only because..." Arthur started automatically, only to trail off. What had he meant? Somewhere in the back of his mind he started to remember something, a dream, a force that led him back to the land of the living. "That wasn't because of me," He said simply.

"Yes it was! I'm sorry that Uther doesn't believe in you, Arthur," Merlin said gently, "but I do." he finished quietly.

Arthur just sat quietly, lost in thought. Part of his mind was thinking about what Merlin said. Did he really of so much faith in Arthur? The rest of his mind was stuck in a haze, trying to work through the vague memory from his time in a coma.

Finally he asked, "now can we go inside?"

Merlin nodded, quickly getting them inside, where he left Arthur alone in his room.

That night Arthur was caught in a familiar dream.

He was at Pendragon Advertising, running through the halls after a mysterious figure.

"Stop!" Arthur commanded as he rounded the final corner, "I order you to stop! Do you know who I am? I could have you fired!" Part of Arthur knew what happened next, only instead of disappearing the figure stopped. Arthur grounded to a halt, just in time to see the figure turn around, Arthur found himself starring into Merlin's impossibly blue eyes.

Arthur startled awake, the image of Merlin still lingering in his mind.


	8. Chapter 7

Notes: So here's the deal; I had this finished a looonnngggg time ago, but had major beta issues (she still hasn't beta'd it.) So I bring this gift for those of you asking for more on the condition that you cut me a little slack when it comes to grammer and spelling issues :)

Everytime you **review** a stray dog finds a good home and a rainbow appears. ;D

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Arthur was in one of his brooding moods the next day, but Merlin wasn't surprised. Arthur generally didn't react well to seeing his father, or to talking about feelings, and he had gotten both in one day. So Merlin simply set about being as cheerful as possible and keeping up constant chatter, the latter of which wasn't an issue for him.

The strange thing was that Arthur actually did all of exercises and went outside, without complaining, only throwing something at Merlin once. Although Merlin would have thought Arthur's obedience would be a welcome relief; it was oddly disconcerting. Brooding glares he could live with but once Arthur ignored an outright insult Merlin was worried, something had to be wrong.

"No Merlin, I do not have pain in my left knee... or my right knee, or my stomach, liver, nor either of my corneas. Now will you stop asking stupid questions," Arthur finally said, after about the fifteenth time of Merlin trying to guess what was wrong.

"Are you sure you're o..."

Merlin suddenly found himself ducking out of the way of a flying object, "If you know what's good for you, you won't finish that sentence."

Merlin couldn't help but smile, maybe there was hope for Arthur after all.

As soon as Merlin left Arthur rolled himself into his wheel-chair, quite ungracefully, and wheeled himself out the door. After far too long and far too many breaks Arthur finally made it across a short path, and into the building Morgana stayed in.

He ignored the maid's surprise at seeing him, and simply waited downstairs for her to fetch Morgana.

"Well hello brother, it's about time you got your lazy-ass over here to see me" Morgana greeted him as she swept into the room.

"Yeah, well you know I've been a bit busy with the whole being-paralyzed thing," Arthur retorted, voice light despite the bitter words.

"Oh, so how goes that pity party of yours?" Morgana asked.

"It's wonderful," he said scooting his chair forward.

Morgana looked down at him, smiling fondly, "So what brings you here?" She asked, knowing that if he came to her it had to be something important as he usually just waited until her weekly visits to talk to her.

"I wanted to ask you something," Arthur started, as he wheeled over to the chairs in the main room and gestured for Morgana to sit. "How did you know Merlin? He's not well known in the medical field, nor is he from a nearby hospital. So why did you hire him?

Morgana looked at him, calculating "He didn't tell you? Hmm," she sighed. "Merlin naturally came to mind when I was trying to find someone you wouldn't scare off; seeing as he was your nurse when you were in coma. He even tried to convince Uther that you were waking up, so I figured he'd be somewhat interested in your well being."

Arthur just stared for a minute, trying to process everything, "So Merlin's the reason... he helped me come out of the coma?" Arthur asked slowly.

"Well I don't know about that. Sure, Merlin tried... but all it really did was get him fired and get you moved to a different hospital, one that was less 'unorthodox'" she answered.

Arthur didn't remember going back to his room, didn't even know how he got there. He just kept wondering '_why didn't Merlin tell me?'_

Arthur had avoided thinking about his coma since he came out of it, but now his mind kept getting dragged back there. Arthur didn't remember much from his coma other than the dream and some feelings, nothing definite. But the more he lay there trying to avoid it the more the feelings kept coming back to him, some of which were quite confusing… and directed towards a certain nurse.

An annoying, stubborn, somewhat nerdy nurse…_ 'who gave up his job, his reputation, and his friends for me _'Arthur's mind added.

Arthur's thoughts were swirling around, making almost no sense, but he couldn't help it. He just kept remembering feeling so lost, trapped and hopeless, but then feeling this warmth. A strong feeling of faith and hope that guided him out of an inescapable coma.

Remembered being saved from the darkness... saved by Merlin.

Even if he accepted that somehow, although it's completely impossible, Merlin saved him Arthur still didn't know how he was supposed to feel about that. Sure, Merlin gave up a lot for him, but it's not like Arthur asked him to. He would have been fine on his own... maybe.

He didn't owe Merlin anything... except he kind of did. The guy had done so much, and all Arthur had done was treat him like shit, but Merlin was just such an idiot sometimes! He deserved it, besides it's not like Merlin didn't tease and taunt right back, sometimes even starting it.

Okay, so Arthur decided he wasn't going to suddenly be nice to Merlin. Besides, the banter he shared with Merlin made up some of the most fun times he's had since... well since long before his coma anyways.

The more Arthur thought about it the more he was actually glad that the kid had taken up Morgana's offer. And not even because he had helped Arthur get some of his strength back, but simply because Merlin... well he made Arthur feel better. Merlin never made him feel like he was disabled or less of a man because of his wheel chair. Merlin was always just so carefree and content and some of that rubbed off on Arthur, which was much needed. He never shut up, but his ramblings were somewhat comforting and usually fun to listen to. And he had this smile, more of a goofy grin. But when he used it, which was fairly often, it made his devastatingly blue eyes twinkle and his whole face light up. And Arthur loved that that smile was often aimed at hi...

...'_Oh shit,'_ Arthur thought. Arthur never thought about any particular person that much, and especially not in that much detail, unless...

No, it wasn't possible... He couldn't be falling for Merlin, it was _Merlin!_ No! It had to be some sort of savior complex... Yeah that had to be it, Merlin helped him when no one else could, so Arthur was just grateful and confusing it for something else.

Arthur ignored the little voice of doubt telling him how stupid that was.

"So, any particular reason you didn't tell Arthur that you were his nurse?" Morgana asked Merlin as she walked into his room.

"What?" Merlin looked up from the book he was reading. "I... uhm, there was just no reason to. He was in a coma so it's not like he'd know, besides I didn't want him to blame himself for me losing my job or anything" Merlin said, not looking at Morgana.

"Sure..." she said condescendingly, "so it has nothing to do with the fact that you're madly in love with him and were afraid of rejection?"

"Wha... no" Merlin stammered. "How could I love someone I had never met, except while they were unconscious? Besides... it's Arthur! He's a self-centred arrogant prat who has no respect for me and treats me like a slave!"

"How could you know that someone you never met's favourite colours were red and gold, or the kind of music he listens to, or exactly how he likes his pillows positioned? I know him better than almost anybody and when I walked into that hospital room I saw a room that only someone's who knows Arthur a little better than me could create." Morgana countered. "And yeah, my brother may be an arrogant prat but you know he also has a heart of gold, one that doesn't fall for someone unless they're worth his time and respect. And honey? He's falling for you" and with that she walked out of the room.

Merlin sighed. If he was honest with himself, which he generally was, he knew he had been developing feelings for Arthur for some time now. He had just hoped he wasn't that transparent, as it usually wasn't good to fall for your patient. Especially one who was straight, the heir to a billion-dollar company, and well... a prat.

But Merlin just couldn't help it. Arthur was intelligent; he challenged Merlin like no one had in awhile. Making Merlin be as smart and witty as possible just to keep up, and win an argument when he could. Sure, Arthur was challenging at times but deep down Merlin knew that was good for him. Merlin was too used to his patients being unconscious, he forgot what it was like to have to work and struggle, fight someone on every step of their recovery. But in the end it made it that much more satisfactory when Arthur made progress, or actually started listening to Merlin... on occasion anyway.

Arthur helped Merlin out of a rut he didn't realize he was in. In a way Arthur woke Merlin up too, not from a coma, but from a half lived existence. Without realizing it, after he got fired, Merlin had stopped fully living life mostly just going through the motions. He knew he had it good; he had Gwen, Lance, and Freya, and had a good job, but it just wasn't _his_ life and he couldn't fully enjoy it. But here he was with Arthur, living a life mostly excluded from the outside world by all rights he should feel bored and restless, doing the same things every day. Instead he feels accomplished, goes to bed each night feeling content, because helping someone as amazing and important as Arthur to regain his strength and hope is a pretty big accomplishment. Arthur can do great things, make a difference in the world, and if all Merlin does is help him get there, well that's enough for him.

Suddenly Merlin realizes something; he never told Morgana that Arthur didn't know about him. So if she knows that must mean... Merlin stands up, dropping his book, his hands shaking.

Suddenly he's afraid to see Arthur today.


End file.
